Opening an Australian Bank account

[arcticblue]

Currently I have all my cash sitting in NZ bank accounts earning interest here. I've seen a few foreign currency accounts with the NZ banks but they all seem to pay very low interest. Checking out the Australian bank websites (http://www.rabodirect.com.au/) it seems like it is possible to get 6%+ on term deposits of less than a year.

Now I realise there is also exchange rate risk to factor in but I think currently it looks worthwhile.

So how do I open a bank account with a foreign bank? I presume most want you to be a resident, how do you get round this?
Are there extra fees if you don't reside in Australia?
And what is the easiest/cheapest way to transfer between NZ and AU banks? What sort of costs are involved? Is there a minimum size transaction required to make it worthwhile?

Oh and if anyone can suggest somewhere better than Oz then please do tell. EU looks sick, pound too, as does USD.

[POSSUM THE CAT]

articblue Take a holiday To Australia or if you are a direct broking client email alice saville

[CJ]

Unless you are investing in the cross rates (ie. expect to get a forex gain), I dont think it would be worth chasing the higher interest rate in Australia and you could potentially lose out with forex.

[janner]

Hong Kong looks to be worth consideration.

Difficulties with residency though.. ( not insurmountable ) .

With the HK$ pegged to the US$ and with the US$ tanking.
I think that the HK gvt will in the not to distant future ( 2/3 years ) protect HK's position as a major financial centre by either going with the Rem or float.

[trackers]

I've investigated opening Aus accounts on a few occasions (mainly to use Aus brokers) - The couple I talked to said the key thing was having a proper postal address in Aus - Tricky!

Agree that interest on foreign currency accounts tend to be rubbish

[arcticblue]

Thanks for the responses, it sounds about as hard as I suspected. I think I'll put it on the back burner for now. If anyone has any extra info though please continue to post.

[h2so4]

https://www.nab.com.au/wps/wcm/connect/nab/nab/home/personal_finance/15/23/1/2

[JLE]

I recently opened an account with CBA which was fairly straightforward (This was to replace the Macquarie CMT account which is no longer available). I use it to direct credit dividends from OZ companies and occasionally B Pay for share offers. They have a NZ toll free number. However you do pay bank charges and NRWT on any interest.